Tokyo 2020: Olympic champions Tom Dean and Matt Richards on dodging the 'pingdemic' and Covid
British Olympic champions Tom Dean and Matt Richards have spoken of elaborate efforts to sidestep the 'pingdemic' and reach their events unexposed to Covid.
The swimmers took gold in the men's 4x200m freestyle relay alongside teammates Duncan Scott and James Guy, while 24 hours earlier Dean won the individual 200m freestyle.
Getting on to the plane to Tokyo was an achievement in itself, however. For several weeks now, hundreds and thousands of people have been told to self-isolate by the NHS Covid app in what has become known as the 'pingdemic'.
Dean sympathises with athletes whose Olympics have been threatened or ruined by Covid
Tennis stars Dan Evans and Johanna Konta, alongside gold medal shooting hopeful Amber Hill both had to withdraw from the Games after testing positive for the virus prior to the opening ceremony.
Dean told ITV News he had to be "extra cautious" ahead of the Olympics and he strongly sympathised with athletes who succumbed to Covid exposure.
”It's brutal, it crushes dreams and it changes lives," he said.
"This is people’s livelihoods.”
Both Dean and Richards admitted they were relieved their events were over as they no longer have to worry about being forced to withdraw.
However, Richard said he's "almost more concerned" about the virus than he was before, as four of his Olympian housemates in Tokyo are yet to compete.
"It's great that mine is finished. However, I can’t change any of the things that I was doing before.
"I've got to make sure I’m just as rigorous to make sure I don’t cause any of these guys to miss out," he explained.
Now that Richards' Olympics is over, he has sights firmly set on the next Games in Paris in 2024.
"I'm hungrier than I was before," he said, adding that although he only stepped onto the podium on Wednesday, he yearns for another gold medal.
Dean echoed this sentiment.
"All I want to do is do this again," he said.
"Regardless of the medals, I want to be in Paris. In the next three years, I want to do anything I can to make that possible."